Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program (MRPSP)

Tabora Cook
601.815.9026
tcook1@umc.edu

The Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program offers a scholarship to rural medical school students in Mississippi who agree to practice in rural areas of Mississippi upon completion of their degree.

The program is designed for students currently residing in rural areas of Mississippi who wish to return to those areas to practice medicine. Students are mentored throughout the program, from undergraduate to initial practice support.

There are currently 2 program phases.

• Phase I: Undergraduate Education:
  • MCAT preparation materials and practice test
  • Rural practicing physicians mentoring
  • Two-day biannual medical encounters experiences
  • Rural clinical experiences and community healthcare assessment studies relevant to the student's hometown area
  • Consideration for early assurance to UMMC School of Medicine (for two-year participants)
  • Medical school scholarship for preferred candidate
  • Membership in the Mississippi Rural Health Association
• Phase II: Medical Education:
  • $35,000 per year scholarship
  • Recognition of MRPSP Scholar status from faculty members
  • Professional mentoring by rural primary care practitioners

Applicants must be legal residents of Mississippi from a rural background and plan to practice in a rural or other approved community in Mississippi upon completion of their degree program.

Applicants must also plan to complete an internship/residency program in one of the following primary care specialties:

• Family medicine
• Pediatrics
• Medicine-pediatrics
• General internal medicine
• Obstetrics-gynecology

Applications may be submitted by undergraduates in either their sophomore or junior years. Admitted or currently attending medical students are also eligible to apply.

$35,000 per year scholarship for medical students

Upon completion of residency training in family medicine, pediatrics, combined medicine-pediatrics, obstetrics-gynecology, or general internal medicine, the MRPSP Scholar must enter a clinic-based practice in a community of 15,000 or fewer located more than 20 miles from a medically served area for a period of time equal to the number of years scholarship funding was received.

Links to application guidance are available on the program website.

• Undergraduate application
• Medical education application

The application deadline for undergraduate applicants is February 1.

The application deadline for current medical students is April 1.